Foreign Secretary James Cleverly calls on countries to reject Putin’s ‘sham’ referenda in Ukraine | Politics News
The foreign minister has called on countries to reject “charades” being held in Russian-controlled regions of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Speaking at the United Nations Security Council, James Cleverly said Vladimir Putin plans to correct the results of the vote on becoming part of Russia.
“We have information that means we know that Russia is about to hold a fake referendum on the sovereign Ukrainian territory that has no legal basis under the threat of violence,” he said. in mass displacement of people in regions that voted overwhelmingly for Ukraine’s independence.
“We know what Vladimir Putin is doing. He is planning to fabricate the results of that referendum, he intends to use that to annex the sovereign Ukrainian territory and he is having plans to use it as an excuse to escalate his act of aggression.
“We urge all countries to reject this charade and refuse to recognize any results.”
Russian Foreign Minister walks out of UN summit after speech – Ukraine latest
The Security Council meeting in New York came a day after the Ukraine conflict threatened to turn into a nuclear crisis as Mr Putin warned his country would use “all means at our disposal”. me” to protect myself.
The meeting also heard International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan, who told the panel there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that crimes within the court’s jurisdiction were committed. carried out in Ukraine.
Courts based in The Hague handle war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression.
Mr Cleverly said the “devastating consequences” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were becoming more apparent every day.
Addressing his counterparts at the special foreign ministerial meeting, he said: “We see growing evidence of Russian atrocities against civilians, including indiscriminate shelling and targeted attacks on more than 200 medical and 40 educational institutions and horrific acts of sexual violence.”
The Russian foreign minister spoke shortly after Sergei Lavrov, but the Russian foreign minister left the room as soon as it was his turn.
Russia outnumbers the Security Council, but any meaningful action on Ukraine by the 15-member body is thwarted because it is a permanent member with veto power.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier told the meeting that “one person has chosen this war, one person can end it”.
The conflict in Ukraine dominated negotiations at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where world leaders and senior diplomats from around the world went down.
On Wednesday, separatist leaders in four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine announced plans to begin voting to become integral parts of Russia.
